Fortunately, we are living in a changing society that wants equality between men and women; but the sports world is still limping in some respects. I do not want you to be offended by the generalization that I am going to make, but it is true that both genders have very marked roles in the gym. In the case of men, many love to work hard and heavy to feed their ego and be the best in the room. The problem comes when even so, they stagnate.
Today we tell you the five most common mistakes that men make when they train.
stubbornness
Physical exercise is a journey, and the gym is the vehicle to help you reach your destination. I'm sure you know someone who thinks they're better than their car's GPS, right? Well, the same thing happens in the gym. You need to understand that your stubbornness is preventing you from reaching the goal. Establish a good plan and let yourself be guided.
Likewise, beginners face constant doubts and indecisive attitudes, something that will also make the path more difficult for them. At least, this type of person will achieve the final goal if they let themselves be guided...
Know-it-all behavior is what prevents many men from achieving their goal. They need to understand that it is not bad (or weak) to ask for help or advice. In addition, they must accept that there may be things that they do not know how to do for themselves. When it comes to training, your GPS is a good trainer with years of experience behind it.
Build muscle without first losing body fat
There are cases and cases. Each person is totally different. There will be skinny guys who don't need to lose body fat before building muscle, but if you're overweight it would be ideal.
When we go through stages of stress, the levels of cortisol favor the storage of fat; so if you are stressed and you spend the day sitting down, you will hardly lose weight.
The lack of lean mass and having a greater amount of fat mass means that your body will not handle carbohydrates as well as a person with good muscular composition. The size and number of fat cells they have also make it much easier to store more fat. That is, as you lose fat, those cells reduce their size, but they are not eliminated; and, when you increase the fat, you also increase the number of them.
In the muscle building phase, it is normal for body fat to increase and then be reduced. The problem is that if we start from being overweight, it will be much more difficult in the future to reduce so much fat. It is interesting that you first find yourself at a good level of fat mass.
They build, they lower, and then they build again
The mentality to build and to reduce are part of a bodybuilding competition. If it weren't for the fact that you're going to the gym, I could say you're going through a yo-yo routine. We are all aware that it is not good to be gaining and losing weight, but for some reason we have turned a blind eye to bodybuilding. No one questions how these processes influence our body. Is it possible to stay lean and build muscle without getting fat?
To build muscle, you need to be in a caloric surplus. That is, you have to consume more calories in 24 hours than you would normally burn. The extra energy from those calories and nutrients is used for muscle growth and strength.
The extra calories mean muscle protein synthesis is maximized while protein breakdown is reduced. This is what many call "being anabolic." If we eat more calories than the body needs to build new muscle, we will have excess energy and the body will store that energy as fat. But, more body fat does not mean you are more anabolic.
To increase your muscle mass, you just have to add a slight increase in calories on top of the maintenance ones. Forget about those crazy things that many do, who take advantage of this stage to eat fast or ultra-processed food. Don't be afraid to gradually adjust things as you go, and don't be too rigid. If there are days when you are a little more active, allow yourself the luxury of eating more; and vice versa.
They think like a professional bodybuilder
As much as you and your training are influenced by the best bodybuilders, it is very possible that you are not one of them. Bodybuilding is a physical activity that takes things to the extreme to get to the top, and, like in any other sport, great efforts and sacrifices are made. The human body is subjected to quite extreme limits.
Bodybuilding has an off season and a competitive season. On the downs, athletes enjoy eating calories and gain in energy, strength, and size. We could say that this is the "volume" phase. But just before the competition, everything becomes much stricter and the «cutting«. From one side to another.
Be aware that genetically you may not be predisposed to be a good bodybuilder, or perhaps it will be more difficult for you to carry out the processes. Since it is a tough activity, enjoy the ride.
They boost their ego first
The basic exercises for any man in the bodybuilding area are: squats, deadlifts, and bench presses. Have you ever wondered why they are considered the most important? Perhaps the influence of weight lifting has a lot to do with this. For a lifter, that trio of exercises are the most "functional" and similar to his sport, but what about you?
Unless you're a powerlifter or those movements are performed directly in your sport, you may have better training options. Exercises that create a higher level of muscle activation may be more conducive to building muscle. For example, doing a reverse grip bench press may involve more pectoral muscle activity than a typical medium grip bench press.
Stop doing exercises that don't favor you in your progress. Ego is not everything in training.